Can't You Just Imagine Them Getting Together?
by The Eclectic Bookworm
Summary: Rupert Giles and Jenny Calendar. In love, enamored, intrigued, and annoyed with each other. Oneshots focusing on them, some canon and some AU.
1. Last Kiss

**Author's Note: Because I've been working on lots of little Giles/Jenny** **oneshots and I thought that some of them were worth sharing. Not sure how often this will be updated, as my unpublished fic is my main focus at the moment, but the Internet is lacking when it comes to Calendiles and I've gotten tired of it.**

* * *

He was walking her to her classroom, like always. She wasn't holding her books today, as she had left them at school, and he hadn't needed to bring anything to school either, so they were holding hands. Jenny was squeezing his hand between intervals, relaying him a message in Morse Code. (Giles took great pride in the fact that he was dating an extremely beautiful woman who was knowledgeable enough to use Morse Code in everyday life.) Today, her message of choice (which had taken her their entire walk to relay) was YOU LOOK HOT, ENGLAND.

Giles had figured out the gist of the message by the time she got to the L in ENGLAND, and was grinning like an idiot by the N. Jenny tugged on his hand persistently until he turned, both of them stopping just a few doors and a right turn away from her classroom.

"Didja get it?" she asked playfully.

"Rather hard not to understand," Giles replied. "Unless, of course, one didn't know Morse Code."

Jenny gave him a fond smile. "You _do,_ you know," she added.

"Know Morse Code?" Giles asked curiously.

"Look hot," Jenny informed him with amusement.

Giles ducked his head. "W-well, I'll take your word for it."

His eyes were focused on his shoes, but he still was able to notice Jenny's free hand move to curl around his lapel. Looking back up at Jenny, he was entirely unsurprised when she leaned in for a sweet kiss. It was brief, seeing as they were still in the middle of the hallway, but it was still utterly wonderful. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss, the bell rang, and Jenny pulled away reluctantly.

This had been happening more and more now. They were kissing all the time, everywhere, whenever it seemed like they could steal a kiss without getting caught. Initially, their relationship had been something they kept under wraps at school for the sake of professionalism, but now Giles felt like he couldn't possibly kiss Jenny enough.

Previously, one of Jenny's kisses could sustain him for days. Jenny actually told him during one of their dates that Buffy, Willow, and Xander were all always stopping by her classroom and asking her to kiss him more, simply because it put him in such a good mood.

(Buffy's motivation was primarily so that she could get time off patrolling to be with Angel, and Xander liked being able to put his feet up on the library table without getting reprimanded. Still, Jenny had kissed him anyway, so Giles wasn't too upset about the children's meddling.)

Now, though, he wanted to spend years with Jenny, just kissing her and holding her and being with her. What with his responsibilities, both as Buffy's Watcher and the school librarian, the free time he had was few and far between—not to mention it didn't often intersect with Jenny's.

Giles was entirely certain that he was deeply in love with her. However, he wasn't sure how Jenny would react to this news (seeing as they'd only recently rekindled their relationship) and was consequently hesitant to bring his strong feelings for her to her attention.

Yes, he did see a softness in her gaze when she looked at him, one that hadn't been there at the beginning of their courtship. Yes, she did cuddle into him when they were watching movies, and Jenny wasn't very cuddly by nature. But Giles wasn't inclined to believe that such a wonderful woman could see anything in him.

Even so, he dared to hope that he might win her.

Jenny rested her forehead against his for a moment. "See you at the party tonight," she told him, voice low and smoky.

"You make it sound as if we're going out together," Giles informed her, not managing to keep the petulance out of his tone. "It's Buffy's birthday party. I can't kiss you there without the children acting as though I've mentally scarred them."

Jenny giggled. Her breath tickled his face. "Rupert, we've got tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day…" Her head tilted up. As her eyes began to slip shut, Giles was tempted to take her hint and resume their kissing session. But then footsteps and voices filled the hallway, and he was forced to let go of her hand and step away.

"See you then," he told her reluctantly.

Jenny opened her eyes to smile at him, and there was a softness in her gaze.

As Giles walked down the hallway, he relished in the lingering happiness Jenny's touch always made him feel. Not only that, but Buffy's seventeenth birthday was coming up, making her the fifth oldest Slayer in history. He couldn't help but feel that for once in his life, everything was going well.


	2. Mismatched Bouquets

"You're like a four-year-old on a sugar high," Buffy comments to Willow, who is bouncing on her toes. "And if you keep on doing that, you're gonna lose your balance," she adds, glancing at her best friend's high heels.

"Did you see her dress?" Willow asks for the seventh time, turning excitedly to Buffy. "And her hair—did you see her hair? She's curling it, you know, special, for—"

"Yeah, yeah, Will, I saw it," Buffy laughs, and leans forward to attempt to smooth down Willow's hair. Willow sheepishly stops bouncing, but her grin doesn't diminish. "How do I look?" Buffy asks, twirling in her lavender dress.

"Very nice," Willow replies approvingly. "It's a good color on you."

"It looks best on you, though," Buffy comments. "Better with your hair."

Willow beams. She's absolutely radiating joy today, and Buffy can understand why; everything is looking like it'll go pretty much perfectly. The weather is sunny, but with a slight breeze in the air that ruffles the grass. The guests are all finding their way to their seats, everyone dressed to the nines. Apparently Ethan Rayne tried to sneak his way in, but Xander and Anya apprehended him before he could cause any damage.

It kind of makes Buffy want to laugh when she imagines Ethan Rayne faced with Anya, who's determined that everything will go _absolutely perfectly_ today and seems ready to murder anyone who stands in the way. Xander seems to be slightly turned on by that, though, which grosses Buffy out. Significantly.

Tara hurries up to them, stealing a quick kiss from Willow. Buffy feigns interest in a nearby tree.

Noticing that she and Willow aren't alone, Tara pulls away from her girlfriend. "Hey," she says to Buffy, shyly, and seems a little more at ease when the Slayer gives her a warm smile.

"I think the lavender dress looks best on _Tara,_ actually," Willow tells Buffy (although the comment is clearly directed at her girlfriend), her hand moving to clasp Tara's. Tara ducks her head with a crooked smile.

"Bouquets!" Anya shouts, still in her wedding planning flurry, running up to all of them and shoving a bouquet of mismatched flowers into each girl's hand. "God, these are _awful,_ " she adds, glancing at her own with a frown. "They look like someone picked random wildflowers and put them all together for their bouquet. I _did_ suggest that the flowers should have been something more traditional, like roses—"

"Yeah, well, us Scoobies never were very traditional," points out Xander, stepping up to all of them and extending his arm to Anya. She takes it, jerking her head at Buffy, Willow, and Tara to find their partners and do the same. Willow links arms with Tara, in preparation to walk down the aisle, and Buffy waits with a lingering smile for Riley to join them.

"Where's Riley?" Willow asks, glancing around slightly worriedly. "We're gonna have to start walking any minute now."

"The flower girl still isn't here yet," Xander reassures her. "We've got about three more minutes. Riley's making sure Giles is ready to step out onto the little…" He waves his hand vaguely. "What do you call that thing the groom stands on to wait for the bride?"

"What, you think he's gonna get cold feet?" Buffy asks. "That isn't really his style."

"Nah, he's just worrying about basically everything," says Xander. "I would have stayed, but after he stopped worrying that Ms. Calendar was going to just, uh, 'come to her senses,' run away and leave him at the altar—"

"Actually, were I Giles, I'd be the one running away from her," Anya comments, seemingly calmed by the opportunity to put her two cents in. "A lot of married women make vengeful wishes nowadays. Do you know how many distraught new brides I catered to in my last year as a vengeance demon alone?"

There are a few moments of awkward silence before Xander finally says, "An? I think we had that talk about not mentioning all of the weddings that you've seen go wrong."

"Yes, but you said Giles was worried," Anya points out, "and you appear to think that his worries aren't valid. I simply wished to defend him."

Xander looks extremely conflicted, like he can't decide whether Anya is being endearing or ridiculous. The expression on his face is so silly that Buffy and Willow both have to stifle their giggles. Finally, he manages, "Great. Uh, glad that you're _defending_ Giles. Good to know."

"Speaking of Giles," says Buffy, "you said he stopped worrying?"

Xander glances over at Buffy. "Well," he says slowly, drawing out the word, "I mean, he's still worried, but it's just him being all obsessive at this point, so I decided that—"

"What is he worried about now?" Willow asks.

"Like I said, he's being—" Xander begins, but at Willow's and Buffy's pointed looks, he grudgingly replies, "Whether or not anyone's going to trip while they're walking down the aisle."

This makes the bridesmaids all start smirking, save Anya, who gives her boyfriend's arm a reassuring squeeze and tells him, "Well, that's why they have rehearsals, Xander. Imagine if you had fallen into that row of chairs _now,_ with all the people in them!"

"Thanks, An, that really helps," says Xander sarcastically.

Anya grins proudly, pleased that she's reassured Xander, and rests her head against his shoulder. He glances down at her with this small smile that's slightly different from his usual goofy grins.

"Actually, I think that that's a more serious problem than Ms. Calendar being a runaway bride," Buffy whispers to Willow. "I mean, there's no _way_ she would run out on Giles, but Xander trips over like _everything._ "

"Shh!" says Willow, not very vehemently, and elbows her, turning away so she can pretend her smile is due to Tara and not to amusement at Xander's expense.

The flower girl—apparently one of Ms. Calendar's many relatives—runs up, her dark hair tied back in a loose bun that bobs as she sprints up to the Scoobies. She looks about to drop the basket of flower petals, and Willow (who always seems to have a knack with little kids; this has become more and more apparent as more and more relatives arrive in Sunnydale for the wedding) kneels down, letting go of Tara's arm to say gently, "Hey, Alina, you might wanna slow down a little, okay? That way, people get to see how pretty you look in your new dress."

Alina nods obligingly, and does a little twirl not unlike Buffy's to show off her adorable pink dress to Willow. Willow smiles as if she's never seen anything more wonderful, causing the girl to return her grin delightedly.

Riley comes up behind Buffy and takes her arm, pressing a little kiss to her cheek. "Hey," he says softly. "Excited?"

Buffy smiles slowly and looks around. Ahead of them, she can see the small pavilion, full of guests. Giles has taken his place at the altar, and is fidgeting nervously with his bow tie, which makes Buffy want to giggle. Behind them, Ms. Calendar—soon to be Mrs. Giles—is most likely waiting in the bridal tent for her cue, slightly hyped up on caffeine. Actually, Buffy knows that the second part is true; she'd stopped by the bridal tent with a cup of coffee and found out ten minutes later that Willow and Xander had both done the exact same thing.

"Yeah," she says. She rests her head against Riley's shoulder, briefly. "Yeah."

It's not exactly true. She's not really that excited. Giles and Ms. Calendar have acted like a married couple for a long while now, back in senior year when Ms. Calendar would fuss every time Giles came in with a bruise, and Giles would shush anyone who came into the library late because Ms. Calendar had fallen asleep in his office, and Xander came into the library that one time to find Ms. Calendar trying to teach Giles Romanian so that he could talk to her cousins.

Besides which, Buffy's come a long way from seeing Ms. Calendar as The Computer Teacher Giles Is Dating. Now Ms. Calendar is the one who starts a chess game with Willow when they're researching late at night, and writes corny, cheery phrases like _Spread a little joy_ on Buffy's bandages just so that they can both start giggling at the stupidity, and covers for Xander when he throws a book, or drops a book, or spills something on a book.

Ms. Calendar's a Scooby. And it makes sense for her to want to marry Giles. Giles is awesome, and loyal, and when Buffy thinks "chivalry" she always imagines him. Chivalry is such a Giles-y word, all old-fashioned and dorky but something it took Buffy a while to realize she admired.

Buffy feels her smile grow to a big grin at the thought of the sentimental vows Giles showed her, and the classy-chic wedding dress Ms. Calendar was wearing when she took Buffy's coffee, and the pretty, mismatched bouquet that Ms. Calendar plucked a daisy out of and told Buffy to give it to Giles.

Anya might be wrong about the mismatched bouquet. It's eccentric, and you wouldn't think it would work because of all of the contrasting colors, but when you look at it for a while you start to see the way the contrasts actually give the bouquet a sense of unity.

The music begins to play, and Alina skips ahead, scattering flower petals left and right.


	3. Brooding and Pig's Blood

**Author's Note: Canonically, I find this one slightly sketchy. My excuse is that it's set mid-S3 and for whatever reason, Angel didn't try to kill Jenny, so she's considerably friendlier towards him. And mostly I just wanted Jenny to make fun of Angel being all angsty, and Angel to be a little more than the Dark Broody Boyfriend. (Although of course there have to be aspects of Dark Broodiness, because come on. It's S3 Angel.)**

* * *

"Can I have your cookie?"

Angel glanced up from the manuscript in surprise. "What?"

"Your cookie," Jenny said conversationally. "Can I have it? It's been sitting on your plate for the last ten minutes, and I just finished mine."

"Sure," said Angel awkwardly before going back to researching the most recent demon Buffy had run across. Giles hadn't called him in, but he still wanted to look into it. After all, if Buffy was in danger, he knew that he had to try and help. Not just out of moral obligation, but due to the feelings that he was trying so hard to—

"You're sure you don't want them?" Jenny continued to query. "I mean, Willow isn't planning on baking any more for a while…"

"Go ahead," Angel answered, still staring at the manuscript and feeling incredibly guilty that his feelings for Buffy still lingered. If Buffy was in danger, and for some reason or another they got caught up in the heat of the moment…a part of him was scared by the possibility of Angelus resurfacing, but a part of him was too selfish to care. One moment of happiness, true happiness, was worth so much to him, but was it really worth transforming into Angelus again? Was it worth—

"Are you done brooding?" Jenny asked, taking Angel's cookie.

"What?" said Angel, now actually taking the time to stare at Jenny.

"Look, Angel, we're the only two people in this library, and I'm getting tired of the whole silent research thing," said Jenny frankly, taking a bite of the cookie. "Mmm," she said contentedly, before continuing, "So you finish up your brooding and then we're going to have an actual, human-to-vampire conversation."

"I wasn't brooding," Angel informed her.

"You're brooding right now!" Jenny accused him, a laugh in her voice. "You get all sullen."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Angel replied uncomfortably, staring at the manuscript.

He was trying to read. He really was. Reading meant that there was a task he had to finish, monsters he had to fight. But nowadays, the only monsters he seemed to be fighting were his inner demons. The ones he had to protect himself, and Buffy, from at all costs. These were the demons that said it would be a good thing, a moment of happiness with Buffy and then the end of having a soul. The demons that—

Jenny purposefully tipped over Angel's mug of pig's blood, spilling it all over the manuscript.

"What the _hell?_ " Angel demanded, not sure whether to be stunned or angry. He looked up at Jenny, who was giving him a very pointed stare. "I was _reading_ that!"

"I found some info on the Internet that I'm going to research myself, so you don't need that," Jenny explained, "and if I had told you that without destroying the manuscript, you would have continued to pretend to read while you brood. And like I said, we're the only people in the library, so you're going to _have_ to talk to me." She turned in her chair so that she was staring at him, a challenge in her eyes.

"I don't want to," said Angel, not really liking that he was starting to sound like a stubborn little kid.

"Okay, I'll just talk, and you can listen," Jenny told him. She cleared her throat dramatically before beginning. "So I'm thinking of renting a really sappy romantic comedy just to see if I can get Rupert to cry, because he tries to be Mr. Tough Guy when it comes to movies but I always catch him sniffling a little at the sad parts. And I never cry at movies, but he's convinced that I cried when we were watching _The Lion King._ Which, by the way, is a really good movie, even if it's a kids' movie about—"

"I've seen _The Lion King,_ " Angel said quietly.

"Did you like it?" Jenny asked. "I thought it was cute."

"Parents die a lot in Disney movies," Angel commented, shifting slightly in his chair so that he could face Jenny. Only slightly, though. He was just going to explain this to Jenny, and then he would stop talking to her. He didn't really feel in a place to talk right now; he wanted to mull over his complex feelings for Buffy. "I find it morbid."

"You find _The Lion King_ morbid," said Jenny slowly, a little disbelievingly.

"Yeah," Angel replied.

"You, Angelus, the Scourge of Europe, get depressed by _cartoon lions_."

"Well, when you put it like that," Angel muttered.

"No, I get it," Jenny teased, dark eyes full of mirth. "It's really sad when Mufasa dies. That and the stuff with the hyenas? That's some _dark stuff._ Much darker than, oh, I don't know, vampires and demons and mysteriously immortal mayors."

"That's not what I mean," Angel persisted indignantly.

"Well, I'd be happy to listen to what you mean, Angel, but you said that you didn't want to talk to me," said Jenny with clear self-satisfaction. "So I think I'll go print out the info you need, and then you can—"

"If you think about _Beauty and the Beast,_ I mean, where are the Beast's parents?" Angel asked Jenny loudly, choosing to ignore her growing smile. He had to settle this once and for all. "He was, what, ten when he got transformed? And a ten-year-old prince can't rule a kingdom. Did he eat his parents? Were his parents already dead? And who was ruling the kingdom if they were dead? And what happened to that guy?"

"Maybe Cogsworth was the…uh…what's it called when someone rules a kingdom in place of a kid who's too young?" Jenny replied.

"I think it's a regent," Angel told her. "Everyone was talking about that in the late 1700s. The regent of…might have been England?"

"Would Cogsworth really be qualified to rule a kingdom?" Jenny continued. "I mean, if you ask me, Mrs. Potts would have been the better choice."

"Cogsworth was pompous and stuffy, but I think he knew his stuff," said Angel. Then, casually, "Pompous, stuffy, and British."

"Are you comparing my fiancé to an annoying talking clock from an animated movie?" Jenny asked huffily. "If anything, Rupert would be Belle."

Angel stared at her for a moment. Then the thought of Giles in that stupid yellow dress Belle had been wearing came to his mind and he started laughing. It wasn't very loud, nor was it long (it was about five seconds of laughter), but when he'd stopped, he found that his complex feelings for Buffy didn't seem as necessary to mull over.

For a moment, Jenny was silent, looking quite stunned. Then she started to talk again, now with an even larger smile. "I mean, it's totally obvious! Belle wants adventure, she loves books, she's brave, she's compassionate, she—"

"Hate to break it to you, Jenny, but Belle fell in love with a hideous monster, and you aren't exactly the Beast," Angel pointed out.

Jenny stopped talking, contemplatively bit her lip, and then came up with, "Well, I don't have the best table manners." She stood up.

"Oh, are you going?" Angel asked, surprised to sense a note of disappointment in his voice.

"I just have to print out the article I found online," Jenny explained. "I'll be right back." She hurried off.

Jenny came back with a new copy of the document Angel had been reading, blood, and coffee. All three items were ignored in favor of their complaining about the utter stupidity of romantic comedies and most romantic subplots in general.


	4. Lame Souvenirs

Giles wasn't really paying attention to his cataloguing. He knew that he _should_ be, as Buffy had told him that his consistent staring at the double doors of the library was becoming creepy, but every few minutes he glanced casually over at them when he thought she wasn't looking. His neck was starting to hurt, but at least he was being surreptitious.

"Giles?" came Buffy's voice.

Giles turned his head to look at her so rapidly that he thought he might have pulled a muscle. "Yes?" he replied, picking up a few catalogue cards and pretending to write something on one of them. The scribble left a large ink blot right in the middle of one of the words that he had already written, utterly ruining the card.

"We all know you want Ms. Calendar to hurry up and get back from her family visit, but she called you like five minutes ago from the airport," Buffy said with amused patience. "She isn't going to get here for another ten minutes at least."

"She's a very fast driver," said Giles lamely, tossing the ruined card into the trash. "Dangerously fast, at times."

"Yeah, but her car kinda sucks," Xander pointed out from where he was lounging at the library table. "Come to think of it, you guys and your cars are a match made in heaven," he added thoughtfully, taking a potato chip from the bag Oz was holding.

"Very funny," said Giles, and glanced over at the double doors of the library again.

"Obsessive much, Giles?" Cordelia called. "You know girls find that kind of thing creepy."

"Actually, I think Ms. Calendar will think it's cute," said Willow with a small grin. "You want a chip?" she added, holding one out to Giles. "It might help distract you."

Giles took a chip, looked at it, realized that if he ate a chip and then kissed Jenny he would have potato chip breath, and put the chip back in the bag.

"Oh, no, you can't do that," Xander objected. "Now you've contaminated the entire bag. We eat that, we all turn into British librarians and start wearing tweed all the time."

Deciding that this wasn't worth a response, Giles went back over to the counter, leaning against it to stare at the double doors some more and half-listen to the children converse.

"Ooh, I always wanted a British accent!" Willow was saying eagerly, taking two potato chips. "Girls with British accents always sound so pretty."

"You've got a nice voice as is," Oz told her, and when Willow responded with a soft, "Aww," Giles had a feeling that the two were holding hands.

"What about guys with British accents?" Xander asked.

"Okay, I'm not dating my Watcher, and the only other guy I know who has a British accent is Spike, so I'm kind of done with British accents," Buffy commented, and Giles heard her footsteps as she walked over to the table, followed by the crinkling of the potato chip bag. "Mmm," Buffy added. "Barbecue. Hey, do we have any sour cream chips for Ms. Calendar?"

"Yeah, but she only gets them if she brought us souvenirs," Xander replied.

"Xander, it's Utah," Cordelia told him. "Are you sure you want some lame souvenirs from Utah?"

"Ms. Calendar said she was bringing me back saltwater taffy," Xander replied, "so, yeah, I want lame souvenirs. And if she didn't bring them, I don't think she should get potato chips."

"Your kindness is truly inspirational, Xander," said Buffy dryly. "You're a model for us all."

"Giles, are you sure you don't want any food? We ordered pizza!" Willow called hopefully.

"Since when?" Giles asked in surprise, turning around from the counter. "Yesterday, you were all talking about how you didn't have any money to order pizza."

There was a silence, and then Buffy spoke up. "Um, so Principal Snyder dropped fifty dollars in the hallway today, and when Oz tried to return it to him, Snyder called him a delinquent, so we're spending it on pizza."

"I wanted to return it too!" Willow added. "And I would feel much guiltier about it if we weren't spending the money on pizza from that place Ms. Calendar really likes."

"Plus we got her garlic bread," Xander concluded.

Giles didn't really see why they seemed so hesitant to tell him this. There was really only one way to deal with situations involving Principal Snyder. "Oh, I entirely support your keeping money that you find on the ground, as long as you aren't entirely sure of its rightful owner," he said casually.

"Or if he's a rodent-like twerp," Buffy added.

"I said nothing of the sort, Buffy," Giles informed her. "I also didn't say that I agree with you, or that you're all very thoughtful to use the money to buy pizza for Jenny."

"Gotcha," Buffy agreed. "You're covered."

There was then a loud _rip_ from outside. It was followed by a woman's even louder voice, something about a "stupid, overpriced, poor-quality excuse for a wheeled suitcase." Giles started grinning and couldn't stop.

"So! I'm guessing Ms. Calendar had a good trip," commented Xander.

"She—er—doesn't like traveling that much," said Giles.

"No, _really?_ " said Cordelia sarcastically.

The double doors burst open, and Jenny stumbled through, a piece of material from her once-long skirt caught on one of the wheels of her suitcase. Giles's face was starting to hurt from grinning. He tried to school it into a small smile, but when Jenny muttered another curse word at the suitcase, he couldn't help but giggle a little. Very undignified.

"Ms. Calendar!" Willow burst out, utterly delighted.

Jenny looked up at all of them, looked down at the suitcase, looked at what seemed to be a miniskirt, and looked up again, her face a mixture of embarrassment at her suitcase-skirt predicament and delight at seeing them all. Somehow, she had managed to become even lovelier than before over the past four months. Or perhaps Giles had just forgotten how lovely she was. He had gone the entire summer and the first month of school without seeing her, after all.

He strode forward and picked her up, spinning her around. He heard her make a noise that was part shriek, part laugh as her arms wrapped around his neck, and he hugged her tightly, her feet barely skimming the ground. _"God,_ I've missed you," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"I missed you too!" Jenny laughed breathlessly, her chin resting on his shoulder. It wasn't entirely comfortable, but Giles didn't mind too much.

"You have taffy, right?" Xander asked, standing up. "You promised to bring back taffy."

"Shh!" said Cordelia and Willow together.

Giles put Jenny down, carefully, and kissed her. He had been planning for this. He was now standing with his back to the Scoobies, so it would still look like they were hugging and he would be able to sneak in a quick kiss. What he hadn't been counting on, however, was for Jenny to stand on her tiptoes and deepen the kiss, which caused him to pick her up and accidentally shift a little so that she was sitting on the library counter. It made for a very nice kiss, especially since he hadn't seen her in person for four months.

However, lost in kissing Jenny, he'd entirely forgotten about the fact that they were now in full view of the children.

Xander snickered, Cordelia cleared her throat loudly, a shocked Willow accidentally knocked over the potato chip bag, Oz didn't seem to have a reaction (or maybe his face changed, but Giles wasn't in a position to actually check), and Buffy yelped, "Giles, ew! We do not need to see that."

Jenny pulled away with a musical laugh (oh dear lord he had missed her so much) and commented, "You may have scarred the children for life, Rupert."

Giles, who was far past the point of caring, replied, "I love you."

"I love you too," Jenny informed him, jumping down from the counter. She stood on her tiptoes and grabbed his tie, pulling his head down so that she could press a little kiss to his nose.


	5. Misconception

It's a misconception that Jenny can't bring herself to correct.

Rupert thinks she's healing. Rupert thinks she can't look at him because she can't forgive him for what he put her through. Rupert thinks she blames him, and she _does,_ but that isn't the reason why she doesn't want to be around him.

Jenny is scared at night. She dreams that Eyghon is back in her body and that she's doing horrible things and that she can feel herself burning up from the inside out, and she wakes up stifling screams. And every single time, her first coherent thought is that she needs Rupert.

Not wants. _Needs._ She needs to curl into him, breathe in the musty library smell he always seems to have, feel his arms encircle her, hear him tenderly assure her that it'll be all right. Jenny has never needed anyone like that before, never known exactly where she needed to be in order to heal and be comforted.

Because she knows, with terrifying clarity, that she'll find solace in Rupert's arms. That she'll feel safe there, and that within a few days, she'll be somewhat better again. Not entirely better—that's going to take a while—but somewhat better. More so than now, when she jumps at every shadow in her classroom and tries to avoid Willow's worried brown eyes.

It's after the third time she awakens from a bloodcurdling dream with a narrowly swallowed cry that she realizes how deeply and truly she loves Rupert. How although she was hurt by what he hadn't told her about his past, she recognizes the hypocrisy of her being upset about his omissions. There are things in her past, about her family, that she still hasn't told him. Big things. Things that can make her lose even the slightest chance of a future with her wonderful, caring, genuinely precious boyfriend.

Although, what with her responsibilities, a future with Rupert was always out of the question. She'd known that going in. She'd expected a brief fling, something silly and sweet to distract her from her duties, something that would eventually burn out. She'd thought that a future with a snobby British guy who she had nothing in common with wasn't something she really wanted.

She hadn't known that Rupert is the kind of guy who sneaks up stealthily behind her and wraps his arms around her in a hug, kissing the top of her head and eliciting a warm tingle that runs through her body. She hadn't known that Rupert likes criticizing the plots of rom-coms (just like her) and carving jack o' lanterns with intricate designs (the ones she always loves to look at) and kissing her on the tip of her nose just so that he could hear her giggle.

She didn't know that Rupert's the kind of guy who likes to hear her giggle.

But when he's not there, a thousand fears and neuroses fill her head, thoughts of what might go wrong, thoughts of what she already can't change.

 _Don't get attached to these people, Janna,_ her uncle had told her. He'd used more words than that, along with a lengthy rant about vengeance, but she had gotten the gist. Making connections had never been what she was here for.

But then…then she had met Rupert. And Willow, and Xander, and Buffy, and she was starting to understand what a family was. Maybe she wasn't exactly part of this one, but even as a casual observer, she could see how close the Scoobies were. Rupert would glance over at Buffy or Willow or (on rare occasions) Xander with fatherly pride, or Xander would come in with a pilfered donut and give it to Willow, or Buffy would sneak up behind Rupert and try to scare him while he was filing (which almost never worked, according to Rupert, but Jenny had seen him jump and drop everything he was holding more than once), and Jenny would recognize that the bonds forged by the Scooby Gang in a little over a year were significantly stronger than what she felt for a family she only halfway knew.

She'd heard, many times, that blood was thicker than water, but she was starting to think that the saying was more than a little bit stupid.

She wants to be part of that family. She wants Xander to care enough about her to give her stolen donuts and she wants Buffy to care enough about her to sneak up and scare her from behind and she wants to get to look over at the kids and feel like she can be proud of them, like she's somehow contributed to the development of the three amazing teens who routinely save Sunnydale. But she can never be a part of anything but her clan, no matter how badly she wishes otherwise.

Jenny lies in her bed and promises herself that everything will be all right. It doesn't seem as convincing as when Rupert had reassured her back in the library, with as much conviction and belief as when he reads her facts out of his archaic volumes.

She gets up and dials his number before mental clarity returns to her. Frightened by her desperation to talk to the man she loves (and god, she wishes she didn't love him so much, because that would make everything so much simpler, wouldn't it), Jenny drops her phone, leaving it off the hook as a reminder to herself to avoid Rupert Giles.

She can do this. She can stop herself from loving him.

She can.


	6. Chocolate (aka Hot Chocolate)

**Author's Note: Since I wasn't on my laptop for most of the holidays, I sadly missed my window to post something cute on Christmas. Consequently, this is set a few days after Christmas as well.**

* * *

The doorbell rings. It rings again and again, persistently.

"Dad, doorbell," says Nikki without looking up from her homework.

"Bloody—" begins Giles, who has been trying to take a nap. Jenny, who has a knack for sensing when he's about to let loose a string of profanities, raises her eyes from her copy of _Scientific American_ and gives her husband a very reproving look, and he hastily finishes, "goblins." This surprises Nikki so much that she looks up from her homework to stare at him. "I-it's Christmas," he explains lamely. "Bloody goblins can be frequent carolers at times. Just let it ring."

"Okay," says Nikki, still looking at her father like he's the weirdest person she knows, and goes back to working on math problems.

The intervals between each ring of the doorbell grow smaller, and Jenny puts down her magazine, giving Giles a look that very clearly says someone is going to get hurt if the ringing doesn't stop.

"Daddy," calls Charles, "I could open the door if you want,"

"We aren't opening it," says Giles flatly. "Just let it ring."

Jenny mutters something in Giles's direction that is very definitely profane before getting up, hurrying over to the door and wrenching it open. "Look, no carolers this year," she begins, and then she stops talking and grins widely.

"Aww, should we come back later?" Buffy asks.

"Maybe we should," Willow agrees. "We're a little late for Christmas, after all."

"Well, we flew all the way to England to mooch more Christmas presents off of Jenny, so—" Xander begins theatrically, but is cut off when Jenny tackles him in a hug. He yelps. "Giles!" he shouts. "Get your wife off me!"

Jenny gives him an exaggerated kiss on the cheek (Giles strongly suspects it's just for the shock value; motherhood has made Jenny a much more silly person) before pulling away and moving to hug Willow, then Buffy. "Aww, it's so good to see you guys!" she says happily.

"Willow?" says Charles eagerly, getting up off of the floor and sprinting over to the door. He's always had a strange, unexplained adoration of Willow. Even when he was a baby, Willow could always calm him down. "It's Willow!" he shouts, before turning to Giles and delightedly informing him, "It's Willow."

Giles gives up on his nap and reluctantly gets up off the couch. The reluctance dissipates when he sees the smiling Scooby Gang, all of them wearing the Christmas sweaters he'd sent them. "I agree with Jenny," he says. "It's lovely of you all to fly down." He gives Buffy a hug, then Willow, and then Xander.

"You can tell it's Christmas when Giles starts giving free hugs," Xander comments.

"I get free hugs from Daddy _all_ the time," says Charles proudly.

"Oh, do you?" says Buffy with an innocent smile. "He must be getting soft in his old age."

Jenny laughs. "Come on in," she says, tugging on Giles's arm and moving him out of the way so that the kids can come inside. "It must be freezing out there."

Charles hugs Willow around the knees as soon as she's entered the house. Willow giggles and scoops up the little boy, hugging him thoroughly. "Hey there, Charlie!" she coos. "How's it going?"

"Mama and Daddy aren't letting us go caroling," Charles informs them with an obvious pout. "And they aren't letting any carolers in our house either."

Willow turns and looks at Giles as if he's just set a puppy on fire.

"Jenny and I are investigating a potential—" Giles pauses, glances furtively over at his children, and spells out, "S-E-R-I-A-L-K-I-L-L-E-R."

"Ohhh," says Willow, looking relieved. "Good." At the look she gets from Jenny, she hastily elaborates, "Not the—the thing you're investigating, just, you know, Nikki and Charles love caroling!"

Buffy decides to put her two cents in. "And if you were being all weird and British and not letting them—"

Giles may have missed Buffy, but he hasn't missed her snarky comments. "You know, people _do_ carol in England," he says indignantly. "I believe the tradition actually originated in England."

Nikki has stopped doing her homework altogether and is grinning at the sight of the Scoobies, which Xander picks up on. "Hey, Nicks!" he calls. "We got some candy canes on the way over, 'cause we figured that your dad wouldn't have any of the good stuff. Want some?"

"Yes please!" Nikki agrees delightedly, getting up and running over to Xander.

"Oh my _god_ she's so British," Buffy giggles.

"That's what happens when you let your husband pick where to raise the kids," Jenny replies with fake ruefulness.

"I have candy canes," Giles objects, still focused on Xander's earlier comment.

"I know you do, sweetie," Jenny placates him, walking over to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. It isn't the theatrical one she gave Xander. "You chose some awesome candy canes. You kids want something to drink?" she adds to Buffy, Xander, and Willow.

"Can Dad make chocolate?" Nikki asks eagerly, taking her candy cane out of her mouth. Charles, still held in Willow's arms, perks up hopefully.

Jenny glances at the clock, and Giles follows her gaze. It's nearly nine in the evening, which means it's going to be a late night if they let the kids have anything sweet. But Buffy, Willow and Xander don't usually fly across the ocean to see them for a belated Christmas, and Giles and Jenny have an unspoken agreement that Charles and Nikki get to stay up late on special occasions.

"Yes," says Giles without reluctance.

"I love you, Willow!" Charles announces, and wraps his arms around her neck, pressing the same sort of theatrical kiss to her cheek that Jenny gave to Xander. He has Jenny's dark eyes and hair, making the resemblance even more striking when he pulls away to add, "You need to come around a lot so that me an' Nicks can have chocolate before bed."

"Wait, is this _chocolate_ chocolate or _hot chocolate_ chocolate?" Xander asks. "Because last time you said _chocolate_ it was hot chocolate. England confuses me."

"It's _hot chocolate_ chocolate," Jenny explains, and adds with playful condescension and a horrible imitation of a British accent, "You Americans."

"Please don't do that," says Giles.


	7. Indoor People

"Ow," said Jenny against his mouth.

Giles pulled back. "All right?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just, I think there might be twigs in my hair, and the dirt isn't very fun on my back," Jenny replied. Then, a little morosely, "Am I killing the moment?"

"Not at all," Giles replied. "I'm an accommodating man." He wound an arm around Jenny's waist before rolling over so that he was lying on the ground under the tree.

"Honey, are you sure you—"

"Tweed, remember?" Giles replied, shifting a little. "I'll be f-ow!" He winced, sitting up so fast that he accidentally bumped heads with Jenny. "Sorry," he added.

"It's okay," Jenny laughed, raising a hand to his shoulder and moving to sit on his lap. "I kind of saw that coming. Here, there are some twigs in your hair." She reached up and started to work on Giles's hair, an adorable expression of concentration on her face.

"I think I lay down on a rock," Giles complained.

"I was probably lying on _three_ rocks while we were kissing earlier. You're being a total baby." Jenny leaned forward and kissed his forehead, accidentally pulling his hair a little. Giles yelped at the hair-pulling and jerked his head back, accidentally hitting it on a nearby tree trunk he'd completely forgot existed.

"Ow," he groaned.

"Oh, god, Rupert, I didn't—" Jenny pulled away, carefully untangling her fingers from his hair before placing her hands on his shoulders. "Are you all right?" she asked anxiously. "Did that, I don't know, trigger some sort of prolonged concussion? You get knocked out way too much, did I tell you that before? Are you okay?" She rubbed his shoulders comfortingly.

"I'm fine," Giles replied, suddenly feeling better at Jenny's concern. He placed a hand on her cheek and pulled her in for another kiss, this time leaning against the tree. This was actually quite comfortable, what with the tree as a back rest and Jenny in his arms, tasting of the blueberry pancakes she'd had for breakfast. He could get used to this.

Jenny broke the kiss. Looking quite aggravated, she said, "A pinecone just hit me on the head."

"What?" said Giles, whose mind had only gone so far to figure out that the Jenny kisses had stopped and he wanted them back.

"I don't think the outdoors likes us," Jenny sulkily informed him before glowering up at the tree. "You know what, it's mutual!" she added indignantly to it. Then, to Rupert, "Are there pine needles in my hair?"

"Er, no, but there are some of those…those pine things."

"Pine things?" Jenny echoed with a confused frown.

"The…" Giles trailed off, tried to think of the name for the little brown things that made up a pinecone, realized he had no clue what they were called, and settled for, "The little brown things that make up a pinecone."

"Yeah. Pine needles."

"Jenny, they aren't called pine needles." Giles reached around Jenny to pick up a pine needle, using it to gently poke the tip of her nose. Jenny wrinkled her nose and giggled at the touch, and he smiled fondly. "These," he explained, "are pine needles."

"Oh, that makes sense!" Jenny agreed, before frowning and asking, "Then what are the pinecone things called?"

"I actually don't know," Giles answered. "Maybe I should—"

"Wait, there are some in my hair?" Jenny asked, not sounding at all surprised. Last time they were kissing outdoors, she'd gotten leaves in her hair. "Can you get them out?"

"I'll try not to pull your hair too much," Giles replied, beginning to work on untangling Jenny's hair. When imagining himself married, he had never considered how good he would become at untangling hair. That and putting out cooking fires, but he had a sense that the cooking fires were specific to Jenny. Who, incidentally, was _not_ allowed near the kitchen anymore.

"Outdoor kissing is a no-go, then," Jenny said with a sigh. "They always make it look so romantic in the movies."

"Oh, no, I'm fine with outdoor kissing, as long as we don't try to lie down on the ground. I don't think the ground works, and it isn't very comfortable." Giles carefully untangled a little pinecone thing and tossed it away from him. "Besides which, usually you end up getting something in your hair."

"Did this happen at the beach?" Jenny asked. "I feel like this didn't happen at the beach."

"No, we just got sandy and uncomfortable, not to mention there was no privacy and the children happened upon us kissing on the ground," Giles replied. "I think we're indoor people."

"Yes," Jenny agreed seriously. "The great indoors. That's our terrain." Giles started laughing, and she grinned too as she continued. "We don't climb mountains, we climb stairs. We don't surf the waves, we surf the Web."

" _You_ surf the Web," Giles said between laughs.

"Okay, then what's your sport of choice for the great indoors?" Jenny asked seriously. Giles's laughs devolved into giggles that he wasn't exactly proud of, but he knew for a fact that Jenny found them endearing. "No, no, Rupert, stop laughing, I'm serious!" she persistently continued, her hands grabbing at the lapels of his jacket. "Do you…sprint through books?"

"Stop," Giles wheezed, removing his hands from Jenny's hair. This was partially because he was fairly certain he had found all of the pinecone things and partially because he was worried he might accidentally pull Jenny's hair in his fit of laughter.

"Or maybe you…hunt for information?" Jenny continued.

"I'll die of laughter out here and you'll have to explain it to the authorities."

"RIP Rupert Giles," said Jenny thoughtfully. "Killed by his gorgeous and deviously cunning wife, Jenny Giles, with lots of love and kisses. I don't know, I think it's got a ring to it. Can that go on your tombstone?"

"No, my tombstone is going to say It's All Jenny's Fault," Giles replied, managing to curb his laughter for the time being. "I feel like it's more succinct."

"Fair enough," Jenny agreed, and snuggled into him, resting her cheek against his chest. "Mmm. How long until we have to meet the kids back at the picnic area?"

"I can't check my watch, darling. Would you—"

"Yeah." Jenny shifted in his lap, glancing at his wrist. "Um, we have about fifteen minutes." She smiled, closing her eyes. "Good. I'm going to nap."

"You aren't," Giles scoffed. "You can't nap anywhere besides our bed. You were talking about that yesterday."

"Okay, then help me get to sleep," Jenny replied. "Outdoor kissing is physically taxing."

Giles began rubbing circles on her back. Then he started talking about the history of weaponry.

Jenny was out like a light in two minutes flat.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much to TheVanishedGirl and DragonyPhoenix for the reviews. Also, thanks to GarretCRW, DragonyPhoenix and primmadonna28 for the follows and favorites. Support for my story is always appreciated, even if I take a little while to respond or let you know I notice.**


	8. Inherent Stuffiness

**Author's Note: I'm back! This one's kind of short because I was working on my series of Valentine's Day ficlets. Which you should go check out, by the way!**

* * *

"Mrs. Gi-iles!" Buffy shouts, hammering on the door as Faith stands awkwardly next to a grinning Willow. Both Willow and Buffy have had a persistent smile on their faces ever since Giles called Buffy and told them that his wife was back in town. Faith finds it more than slightly creepy. "We've brought the new Slayer to meet you! Giles told you about Faith, right? And Willow has software!"

The door remains resolutely shut.

"I know you're in there, you technopagan you," Buffy calls cheerfully.

"It's the bloody weekend, Buffy, let her get some sleep," says Giles, wrenching open the door and glowering at the girls. "She _just_ got back from her technology convention, and she has jet lag, and—"

"New Slayer?" says an eager (albeit drowsy) voice.

Faith was expecting some British lady with the same stuffiness about her as Giles, maybe a little more warm and maternal but still inherently well-mannered. The woman (American) peeking around Giles at her has tousled dark hair and is wearing a tank top and what might be men's boxers.

"Dear," says Giles, sounding slightly embarrassed, "I'm not sure that this is the first impression you want to make on Faith."

"Rupert, she's a _girl_ ," scoffs Mrs. Giles, the last word giving way to a yawn as she stretches. "It's not like Xander's here to make lewd comments about my legs," she adds. "So you'd be Faith?"

"Yeah," says Faith. Mrs. Giles steps around her husband so that she's now standing next to him, and _yep_ those are men's boxers. Faith would wager her nonexistent savings on those boxers belonging to Giles. "I've heard a lot about you," Faith quips.

"Really?" says Mrs. Giles, sounding genuinely surprised.

Faith has to grin. "Nah. But Giles wears a wedding ring."

Mrs. Giles nods, not looking at all surprised, and says, "He isn't one to over-share." She sticks out her hand. Faith takes it. Mrs. Giles doesn't have a very strong handshake, but there's a confidence she holds herself with that makes her grip seem stronger than it is. "It's nice to meet you, Faith," she says, smiling.

Faith smiles back. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. G," she says.

Mrs. Giles drops Faith's hand with a last polite smile. As she turns to Willow, her cordial smile abruptly becomes warm and bright.

Faith feels a pinprick of jealousy. So Mrs. Giles plays favorites, just like her husband. She doesn't hold it against the lady, though. At least here, it's clear that they have something in common. Apparently Mrs. Giles teaches computers or something.

" _Willow!_ " Mrs. Giles says, and gives Willow a fierce hug.

"Ms. Calendar!" Willow says delightedly, and hugs her back. Pulling away, she adds, "Um, I mean, Mrs. Giles now, obviously. How was New York?"

"Didja bring us back anything?" Buffy hopefully adds.

"I can give the stuff to you tomorrow. I think the souvenirs are still in my suitcase." Mrs. Giles glances sideways at her husband before reluctantly adding, "I haven't unpacked yet."

" _Jenny,_ " says Giles reprovingly. "You said you were planning on—"

"I will! It's just that you do _such_ a better job of putting everything back," Mrs. Giles wheedles, arms draping around Giles's neck. Giles wraps his arms around her waist and tugs his wife close. He's got this gooey look in his eyes that's more than reciprocated by the lady wearing his boxers.

Gross, really. Faith glances over at Buffy and sees that the other Slayer has this resigned expression on her face. The kind you get when you're around lovebirds who happen to be your friends, and you get used to the gooeyness being there, but you're still a little grossed out by it.

Faith makes a face at Buffy.

Buffy's resigned expression dissolves as she smirks back at Faith. "You're gonna have to get used to it," she says. "They're like this _all_ the time."


	9. Power Outage

**Author's Note: Set in early S2, before Some Assembly Required.**

* * *

"It's probably nothing supernatural at all," said Rupert from where he was wedged next to Jenny in the broom closet. He was clearly trying to be reassuring, but the underlying nervousness in his tone made him sound like he was trying to reassure himself and not her. "It's probably just a lockdown drill."

"At _night_?" Jenny skeptically replied. She would have crossed her arms, or fixed him with an exasperated stare, or done _something_ to show him that she thought he was being stupid, but he wouldn't have been able to see it due to the near pitch-black darkness of the broom closet. "Rupert, this is definitely bad. All of the lights just went off and something crashed in the gym."

"It could be some sort of power outage," Rupert lamely continued.

"Right. A power outage. Because those happen _so_ frequently. England, you know I know about magic, so _stop_ —" and here Jenny elbowed his side, "—trying to make me feel better."

There was a loud crash, and then a piercing scream from outside the broom closet. Jenny felt her heart leap up into her throat, but she didn't let that deter her from very pointedly adding, "See? People don't make those kinds of sounds during a power outage." She hoped to God her voice wasn't quavering.

"Fair enough," Rupert agreed. _His_ voice was shaking, and suddenly Jenny was even more scared; if _he_ was nervous (and this was the guy with an insane number of weapons in his book cage) this had to be pretty bad. She'd never heard him like this before.

Then he put an arm out in front of her, gently pushing her to the back of the broom closet, and said, "Stay here."

Without even thinking about it, Jenny yanked him roughly backward. "You are _not_ going out there and leaving me in here to get eaten by whatever's rampaging through the school," she informed him, hand curled around his forearm.

"Ms. Calendar," began Rupert.

"I'm going with you," said Jenny.

Rupert turned around to face her, shaking her hand off of his arm. "No," he said matter-of-factly.

"I'm not staying in here and waiting to die!" Jenny objected. "I'm going to die with dignity, not hiding in a broom closet waiting for my guy to do all the work for me."

"Your guy?" Rupert repeated, sounding quite stunned.

Jenny felt certain that she was blushing. Thank goodness it was dark. "You know what I mean," she said hastily. "Just—if you're going to stay, I'm staying. And if you're going to go, I'm coming with you. I'm not super into waiting around while someone else calls the shots."

"I noticed," said Rupert. There was something in his tone now that, were it anyone else, might have been fond. After a moment, he said, "I'll stay with you," and stepped back to stand next to Jenny, his back resting against the wall.

There was another crash, this one closer to them, and Jenny felt a surge of panic.

"Jenny," Rupert whispered.

"Yeah?"

"You're, ah, holding my hand."

"What?" Jenny realized that she was, in fact, tightly gripping Rupert's hand in hers. "Yeah," she finally agreed, unsure of what else to say, but also not ready to let go of Rupert's hand. It was comforting to know that she wasn't alone in a dark closet with some kind of monster roaming the halls.

There were a few more seconds of silence, and then Rupert observed, "You aren't letting go."

"You have a problem with that?" Jenny replied, trying her best to sound like she couldn't care either way.

Rupert was silent. Then, quietly, in a manner that Jenny knew wasn't intended for her to hear, he murmured, "No."

Jenny was once again glad for the darkness, because she was probably grinning like an idiot. She let go of his hand a little (so that she wasn't squeezing the life out of it) and moved closer so that their shoulders were touching.

Rupert leaned into her, ever so slightly.

They stayed like that until the power came back on.


	10. Jenny the Email Hacker

**Author's Note: Inspiration from a Calendiles AU that I'm kind of halfway working on, and a little from DragonyPhoenix's The Letters, which is entirely unrelated to this but still very good.**

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: Change your email password, Rupert

I could easily log into your account and send an email to myself detailing all of the things you love about me. It could get very flowery. I will remind you that these are SCHOOL ACCOUNTS and if the administrator so chose, they could send the email on to Snyder.

Rupert, you're adorable, but you're going to get hacked. I set up your email for you last year and you _still_ haven't changed the password to something non-generic. Trust me. You're going to want to change it soon. I have a plan requiring the use of your email address that I know you won't appreciate.

Jenny

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: Rupert…

I just tried logging into your account and it still worked. You don't even have the excuse about not knowing that I want you to do this, because I stopped by your office and told you in person. And I know you remember _that._

Jenny

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: GET ONLINE SOON OR I SWEAR I'LL GO THROUGH WITH IT

[no message]

* * *

Bcc: rsnyder

From: rgiles

Hello all!

This is Mr. Rupert Giles speaking. I'm so terribly sorry that I wasn't as friendly as I would have liked to be last year; my beloved Aunt Ethel died and I took it very hard. To make up for this, I'd like to volunteer the library for the location of the next faculty meeting. I shall be providing snacks.

Cheerio!

Mr. Rupert Giles

* * *

To: jcalendar

From: rgiles

Subject: Never do that again

Thanks to you, I'm fielding awkward questions about my nonexistent Aunt Ethel. I think I told someone that she died because someone kept on asking her irritating questions. It may have been a student. I am quite on edge.

And also, I've never said _cheerio_ in my life.

Rupert

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: The _cheerio_ was very necessary

Everyone on the staff is convinced that you speak like that since I'm the only person you talk to. You need to make more friends. Plus, I did say that if you didn't change your password, there was a possibility of you getting hacked. You're lucky it was me. I was nice.

* * *

To: jcalendar

From: rgiles

Subject: _Nice?_

Hardly.

Rupert

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: Ok, maybe not nice…

…but I'm sure you're not averse to some naughtiness here and there ;) Up for some this Saturday?

Jenny

* * *

To: jcalendar

From: rgiles

Subject: Didn't you say these were school accounts?

Can't Snyder see these emails?

Rupert

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: You're a dork

He can only see them if the administrator deems them inappropriate in the workplace and sends them on to him. The administrator happens to be this really awesome computer science teacher, and from what I know of her, she's cool with it.

Jenny

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: To put it bluntly…

I'd like you to come to my place Saturday night. Don't plan to go home until Sunday afternoon.

Jenny

* * *

To: jcalendar

From: rgiles

Subject: I've checked my prophecy books

No impending apocalypses. I'll cook us dinner.

Rupert

Postscript: I did change my email password. And I don't have to host any more staff meetings anymore, because the one in the library went so abysmally, so I do have you to thank for that.

* * *

To: rgiles

From: jcalendar

Subject: FINALLY!

[no message]


	11. Unconventional Couple

Giles is awoken by the faint aroma of something burning. Rolling over to check on Jenny, he finds that he's the only one in the bed. This development makes him sigh resignedly; he now knows what awaits him in the kitchen. He takes a few more seconds to enjoy the warmth of the bed before the burning smell becomes stronger, at which point he hurriedly gets up and exits the bedroom.

Sure enough, when he comes downstairs, Jenny is running around the kitchen in a panic to attempt to extinguish what looks like it was going to be pancakes. Now, however, it's a small fire in the frying pan. Giles has to take a moment to marvel at his girlfriend's ability to set breakfast foods on fire.

"No, no, no, you go back to bed!" Jenny orders him furiously, her authoritativeness diminished by the fact that she's got an endearing case of bed head and she's wearing one of Giles's oversized t-shirts, making her look smaller than she actually is. "I'm making you breakfast in bed and I'm _not gonna burn anything!_ "

"Oh," says Giles, and glances over at the cheerfully dancing flames. "So you just decided to start a fire in my frying pan, then?"

"This is my first batch, England, just let me try one more time?" Jenny pleads. "I wanted to surprise you for once!" Indeed, she does look quite distressed, although Giles is fairly certain that it's at least partly because of the fire she's just set in the frying pan.

"Jenny—" Giles begins exasperatedly.

Jenny sighs. "Fine," she says quietly. "I'll just have to think of something else to do for you. I just—I wanted to give you a nice breakfast in bed, you know? You make me breakfast in bed all the time and, I mean, isn't that something a girlfriend should do for her boyfriend?"

Giles feels his irritation melt away, and he's about to reassure her when the smoke alarm starts going off. Jenny winces guiltily as Giles turns to the flaming frying pan and takes the fire extinguisher (which he bought when Jenny moved in with him; it's always best to be prepared) out from one of the cabinets.

As soon as the fire is completely out, he turns to Jenny and pulls her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. "Darling," he says, "we're hardly a conventional couple. You will recall that you're the one who fixes the wiring around here, yes?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"And you're the one who always wants to watch American football?"

"I guess," Jenny concedes, tilting her head up to look at him. Her hands move to his shoulders. "But that's still not really anything that I do for you."

"We save about a hundred dollars a month on our electric bill because of that system you rigged," Giles informs her.

"Technically, that's half illegal and half magic," Jenny points out in a low voice, "so you might not want to go bragging about that one."

Giles has to smile. Jenny's adorable when she's being conspiratorial. "My point is that I love you," he says. One hand moves to stroke her cheek, and Jenny smiles, eyes fluttering shut at his touch. "And love—love isn't about favors, or doing things for people. Love is about making the other person happy, and you make me happy with your continued presence in my life."

"You're so corny," says Jenny with a little giggle, opening her eyes as her smile widens. "You're lucky I'm into that."

Giles leans in and kisses her, a whisper of a kiss that Jenny immediately deepens. Her arms wrap around his neck and he pulls her up slightly, lessening their height difference as Jenny's toes skim the ground. Remembering the stovetop, Giles removes his hand from her cheek to turn the knob off. He's very proud of the fact that he's learned how to do this while kissing Jenny; this is the advantage of having a girlfriend with the tendency to accidentally set things on fire.


End file.
